As I have mentioned, I have handled / sold over 6000 pieces of mid century furniture since 2008 - so many amazing items have passed through my hands that occasionally I like to pull one out and "remember" it.

I forget the origin of most items that I buy and sell, but a few stay locked in my brain and have a story that tags along.

Right now I have the companion tall dresser available that matches the low
dresser above. I remember the above dresser well and the first time I saw
it, maybe 6 years ago.
My kids used to go to a school near Colorado Blvd and Evans. Every Friday morning I would volunteer at the school to make copies for the teachers.

Available as of 10/30/2016

(FYI: when you have mediocre/struggling students, it helps the teachers to feel more compassion towards your child if you volunteer and help the teacher out by doing mundane tasks, like copying....or spelling book corrections - granted you feel like blowing your brain out after 45 spelling book checks, but that is the price you must pay.)

After 3 hours of spelling book corrections for 5th graders, I was always brain dead and exhausted.

There used to be a little used furniture shop run by the Moonies and housed near the school. Occasionally, I would drop in after my volunteer marathons and see what they had.

On that particular day, I popped in and saw the dresser shown above. The front looked dry and neglected, the top was covered in rings and worn spots but I remember being elated just seeing the dresser, its potential, and its uniqueness.

I bought it and was so excited that I refinished it that day ( it was hours and hours of work but a labor of love) and had it posted by that night. It sold the next morning.

I was happy and sad - I just loved the dresser (no maker's name) - I had it for less than 24 hours - it's weird how I can remember the details of that dresser and yet forget what I sold yesterday.

I'm not sure if there is something in the air or just one of those funny coincidences that can't be explained, but I am encountering mid-century chairs every time I turn around.

Normally, I only take the ones that are in MINT condition, exceptionally clean and ready to sell. However, I ran across a few that were too cool to pass up even though the fabric was beyond repair.

Two summers ago, I took a summer upholstery class through the Emily Griffith Technical School. I recovered two chairs. I had a blast. However, my hands stayed swollen for weeks.

As I have griped about before, I have a mild arthritis in my hands from all those years of sanding (Public Service Announcement: after sitting at a desk for most of your career, don't start a physical, labor intensive career at the age of 40 - you will end up with arthritis!)

Our Inspiration #2 but the fabric is too "loud" for our tastes

Obviously, I stopped recovering chairs.

Recently, through a friend of a friend, I met someone who reupholsters as a hobby. She has a full-time job so it will be very part-time, but we have decided to work together to reupholster some great vintage items. I pick the chairs and upholstery, she does the labor and then I sell them.

Inspiration #3

It's great news for all you collectors out there. We will still keep prices as low as we can - but selling a completely refurbished MCM chair has a lot of costs associated with it.

We will run a test program of two chairs and see if there is a market -- both chairs should be ready by mid to late November!

What a great Summer / Fall! My blog has been neglected because....I have been traveling as much as possible and spending time with my family outdoors on these last few days of our Indian Summer!

I have no more trips planned until March (maybe Cuba?) so I have a few months to really focus back on furniture.

Even with my trips, I still try to post 5-10 new items each week, but I suspect next week will be a little busier because when I looked out in backyard this morning, I saw this:

It's been a while since my backyard looked like we were moving.

My oldest, he just turned 18 and is a senior in high school. He is also in desperate need of $$. It's hard with his soccer schedule to have a part-time job, although he has done it in the past. To help him out (which also helps me out), I have been buying more items that need to be completely sanded down and refinished.

He is on Fall Break from school and working like crazy over the next 5 days. He needs to earn enough to keep him and his girlfriend in gas money and feed their Coldstone Ice Cream addiction for another month - then he will have about 6 weeks free to work between the ending of his high school soccer team and start of his club team.

Needless to say, I will have a ton of furniture available next week -- the back yard represents one day of his work and there are 4 more days ahead.

I also just got his senior pictures proofs (the one below is a screen shot from my phone) - its hard to decide which ones we like best.

That said, over the next week or two, any item you buy
will have been refinished by this craftsman - he's amazingly detailed and
really takes his time (he's better than I am in that regard I hate to
admit) -

He's been doing this off and on for a few years and I couldn't
be prouder -- I'm in that middle place where I am so happy to see how grown-up and responsible he has become and heartbroken that he is getting ready to launch. I'm happy for him and sad for me.

Don't believe the hype about lazy millennials - if I had his schedule of advanced classes with mountains of homework, soccer practice/games everyday, working for all his $$ because we don't believe in allowance, and a girlfriend that he spends every free second with -- I would collapse from exhaustion.